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7 Things you can do to create a smarter business

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The market conditions that modern business environment dictates have never been more complex and unpredictable. An extensive amount of information to process, the ever-growing customer expectations accompanied by advancements technology, and the crowded market are only some of the factors that may influence the direction of your business.

To become a market leader in these challenging and uncertain times, it is essential you create a business that is not only more efficient but also smarter than the competition. Here, we are going to highlight 7 strategies that you can implement to make your business more effective and goal-oriented.

1) Prioritise your business needs

You need to ensure that the learning curve of your business never becomes stagnant. If your business is not taking any strides forward, your competitors are most likely to overtake you in the market. To prevent this, it is essential to understand the current trends in your market. If you are not in touch with the changes happening around your business and the effect they have on it, you won’t be able to develop your brand in a sustainable way.

Create an events calendar that includes all must-visit events, conferences, seminars, courses, and workshops; it is also important to differentiate high-quality and relevant events so you know what to prioritise. You can use details of the events (topics and issues to be discussed, speakers, partners, etc) to make decisions on which event appeals to your business most. It is equally important to send the right team members to the right events so that they can walk out with key takeaways essential to ensure you make the most out of your resources.

2) Invoke curiosity

Being innovative is essential for any business, but curiosity is essential. Business success also depends on a stimulative environment that will suit your business purpose and the idea you promote, and at the same time attract the right people.

For instance, at the time when AirBnB appeared on the market and started offering their services, they surely were innovative but this new business idea had never been commercialised. However, with the right strategy, they were able to position themselves as pioneers, creating a strategy that let them attract people’s attention and change their mindset on a service otherwise unknown to the industry.

3) Plan your strategy in detail

According to Implementation Hub, the number of organisations that develop concrete strategies they were able to execute decreased by more than 10% from 2012 to 2016 (from 80% to 68%). In addition, 61% of respondents participating in a study performed by The Economist Intelligence Unit stated that they experienced issues when implementing the previously formulated strategies. Aware that in there’s very little room for undefined elements, you need to ensure you have all the steps defined clearly and concisely. Remember that the first step of your strategic planning should be market research and risk assessment.

4) Outsource

Feel free to outsource activities that distract you from your main goal; if you want to make your business smarter, you should not isolate it from the numerous positive influences around you. Use every opportunity to collaborate with the experts for any of the links in your value chain. This way, you’ll save both your time and money, while at the same time have the ability to concentrate on what matters the most — your business.

Finally, remember that the physical resources don’t determine your success. Some of the largest companies in the world have no inventory, including Uber and Alibaba.

5) Question your organisational structure

If you want to have a smarter business, you may want to find the sectors or the employees who prevent you from it. To bring quality to your business in general, you should pay attention both to whole teams and individual employees. For your business to progress, sometimes you’ll have to decide what to do with: workers whose performance is lower than the average, or, sectors that cost you too much.

You’ll need to monitor all aspects of your organisation, so that you can realise if there is a chance to do something more effectively.

6) Be efficient

If you want to be efficient, you should facilitate your everyday tasks as much as you can. Instead of emails, switch to live chat support software. Instead of organising project papers all around your desk, use a project management software. Instead of explaining the same things over and over again, create a knowledge base. Let’s face it – the market isn’t crowded with these tools without reason. Once you provide your team with efficient, yet simple tools, you will surely bring their general productivity to a higher level.

7) Be there for your customers

When it comes to customers, you should be careful not to neglect the loyal ones while trying to attract the new ones, as the businesses on their beginnings nowadays tend to do.

According to GrooveHQ, you’re up to 14 times more likely to sell your product to a loyal customer than to a new one. Therefore, you should make sure to dedicate the same attention to all your customers and let them know you care about their opinion, no matter how good or bad.

Establishing direct communication with your customers is the key which can be effectively implemented through social media and live chat support. Using such diverse communication media means you can send them questionnaires and hear from them in real-time, without relying on to and fro email chains. You can also include them in special loyalty programs and send them exclusive offers using the customer mailing lists at your disposal.

Ready for a Smarter Business?

No matter whether you own a small business or a large company, you should constantly keep track of the changes that happen in your environment, and invest both in your staff and technology. Even if everything seems to be working perfectly for your business, don’t forget that there is no such a thing as a business that’s too smart. There is always room for improvements and more ways to spend that extra profit that you may get. The only question is – are you ready to work on it?